The attack took place on Saturday in a disputed border area between northern Sudan and southern Egypt. The human rights organization Emergency Lawyers accuses Egypt of being behind the attack, a claim that AFP was unable to confirm. Egypt has not commented on the incident.
An eyewitness told AFP that he saw a fighter jet "shooting five times" and that many people were killed.
The mining area, located in the resource-rich Halaib Triangle, was targeted in an attack in June that killed 23 people. The Egyptian military was also blamed for that attack. It did not claim responsibility but said it had carried out a “large-scale operation” against illegal gold mines within its territory.